Ä¢¹½AV

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) suffered an external communications blackout and travel bans. It had to cancel meetings that will delay decision-making about what medical research to fund next.

"Ninety-one percent of consumers say they read [online reviews] before they make a purchase," our analyst Suzy Davidkhanian said on the "Behind the Numbers" podcast. 59% of US shoppers are most influenced by honest creator reviews, according to a September 2024 survey by Bazaarvoice and Savanta. 31% of US adults use review and rating websites to research and plan their travel itineraries, per August 2024

Travel will see the fastest growth in US digital ad spending of any industry in 2023, according to our forecast. Travel, retail, healthcare and pharma, automotive, and entertainment will outpace the national digital ad spending growth rate.

New travel features will help Amazon better compete in the co-brand space and rack up volume.

On today's episode, we discuss whether the summer travel boom will last, how the economic climate is influencing how people think about vacations, and the changes in how people choose where they go on vacation. "In Other News," we discuss whether folks want gamified shopping experiences and how brands should—and shouldn't—text you. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Zach Goldner and director of forecasting Oscar Orozco.

Commerce intermediaries will be a key player in unlocking the next growth phase in travel media. High-frequency engagement represents an opportunity to knit together fragmented journeys (think destination-specific promotions from DoorDash and Uber Eats, or discounted Lyft rides through airline loyalty programs). The race is on to create new ad inventory as commerce media heats up.

Issuers prioritized payment flexibility, rewards, and digital co-brands. They also capitalized on travel spending and leaned into small-business solutions.

Virtual nursing programs rise as need for travel nurses wanes: Staffing challenges are still keeping hospital CEOs up at night, giving rise to digital workforce support.

Travel and food propped up spending in Q1, but consumers are pulling back amid record-high credit card debt and inflation.

Insider Intelligence spoke with Hiroki Asai, global head of marketing at Airbnb, about recent marketing campaigns addressing inflation’s impact on the travel industry and the brand’s shift away from search and performance-based marketing.

US retail sales fell 0.6% in November: But spending on services like restaurants and travel continues to grow as shoppers prioritize experiences over physical goods.

Some customers may not have their preferred travel credit cards saved in Venmo but will want to use them to rack up points. Others may be making the purchase on their desktop without their phones in reach, which creates friction when you have to use the QR code.

Faster is better when it comes to ecommerce delivery times: Amazon and Walmart leverage automation, limiting the distance items travel to quickly get online orders to shoppers’ doors.

Key stat: 87% of Gen Zers say online reviews had at least a little influence over their decision to purchase a product, according to January data from CivicScience. 31% of US adults use review and rating websites to research and plan their travel itineraries, per August 2024 YouGov data. 46% of worldwide consumers switched brands/retailers after hearing a positive review from a social media influencer,

Discretionary categories including retail, travel, and entertainment led growth. New international card partnerships. Visa launched a bevy of new consumer credit cards like one with digital bank Neon in Brazil. Visa is also trying to take volume from local networks: It partnered with Dutch Bangla Bank to take over 6 million credentials in Bangladesh, for example.